Make it: Chunky Stitch Scarf

It's that time of year where apart from getting in the Christmas spirit, it is getting chilly outside!  I have been meaning to make this plain old black scarf into something a bit more interesting for a while and so with all this cold weather it was about time I did it.

This is a really simple DIY and so it really has no steps at all to it.  First up, I chose to use some of my Wool and the Gang Jersey Be Good which is T-shirt yarn, that I got in our goodie bag from Liberty way back in March.  It was just the perfect kind of Neon Yellow to brighten up the black scarf and so had to be done.

Next step was to thread the T-shirt Yarn through some gaps in the black knitted scarf.  If the gaps were hard to find, I just used a crochet hook to help me.  I then threaded the yarn all through the top of the scarf and linked the two ends together to make a snood.  Then, that was it, it really was that easy.  I might add another line of the neon, but undecided yet.  What do you think?

What would you customise for this time of year?  Something woolly, maybe get the Christmas Jumper sorted with a bit of customisation?

H

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Make it: Children's Dinosaur Hoodie

A few weeks ago it was my niece's 2nd Birthday and I thought that I would make something a little special for her.  I am super excited about this make as its right up my child-like-brain street and have been asked to make many an adult version since - shows my friends have a similar philosophy to me!

I found this bright Purple H&M hoodie a few weeks ago and was just working out the right thing to do with it.  A bit of bright green felt meant that I thought of just the thing, making it into a dinosaur hoodie - of course!

This is a really simple customisation, but it does require a little time and patience.  You will need:

Hoodie/ Jumper, coloured felt (length of the hood and back in one), threads, sewing machine, scissors, pinking shears, ruler, tape measure, black sharpie pen, seem ripper and a chalk pencil/piece of tailors chalk.

On the hoodie I chose, there was a back seem on the hood and so I ripped the seem, keeping the tip of the hood in place as it was overlocked and it made for a neat seem.  Using a ruler (as my cutting is not straight) and a chalk pencil draw a line down the back of the hoodie from the centre line on the hood.

Now to make the dinosaur spine.  Measure from the tip of the hood right down the back of the hoodie to get the right length for your spine. I added a few extra centimeters just in case.  Using a black pen draw on your felt the shape of your spine, make it to the desired length.  Now cut a second piece of felt to the right length and so you have two sides.  

I tacked the two pieces together (using a white thread and a long stitch) as I feel that this helps to keep it all together much easier than pins for such a long length.  Then with a matching thread, follow your pen lines with a straight stitch, to make your spine.  When you are making zig-zag shapes it is worth keeping your needle in the fabric at the change of direction points and so you can swivel it around to the next direction.

Once you have sewn all your spine, you can unpick the tacking and then follow the sewing line with your scissors to get rid of any excess fabric.  Cut off the tip of the triangles (making sure you don't cut through the sewing) so that when you push it through, the tips are sharp.

Pull through the spine to the right side and using a pencil or fat crochet hook (like me) you can push through the triangles so that the tips are as sharp as possible.  Then again, I tacked around the bottom edge and so the next step became easier.

Attatch your spine to the hoodie by putting the felt against the right side of the hoodie at your cut edge, making sure the triangle spikes face into the hoodie.  Follow the edge of your cut middle part of the hoodie and pin into place.  Then put the other half of the jumper on top, making sure that any join points are in the same place and keep the bottom of your hoodie in line with each other.  I chose to tack this in place, but you can pin it if you prefer.

I used a matching purple thread and a zig-zag stitch along the length of the hoodie, making sure I kept all the layers together.  The zig-zag stitch will keep it nice and firm into the hoodie.

Fold it around to the right side and you can see what you have done!  You can also make sure that the spine is in the right place and that it looks right before you look on the inside, cut all the threads and using pinking shears cut the excess felt from the spine.

You will then end up with a hoodie that looks a little like this!  You can change up the colours however you like and make the spine thicker or larger as you want it.  I then saw that Jenni on The Sewing Bee made something similar in the customisation challenge and so it must be cool to make one!

If you have a go at something similar let us know via Instagram or Twitter using the #livelovemake.  We love seeing what you get up to.

Have a great Monday!
H

Make it: Children's Robot Jumper

A few weeks ago I thought I would get a bit creative for a friend of mine's little boy's birthday.  There is something so nice about making gifts for children, especially when you know they will really appreciate it.  I decided that instead of making something from scratch, I would customise instead.

So, I thought what better thing to do than to make a robot to applique onto a jumper that I had bought from H&M.  If you want to do something similar, then here is what you will need:  Jumper or T-shirt - you can find this jumper here, Felt - a few different colours, fabric glue, Googly eyes with shanks, scissors, pins, paper, pen/pencil, needles, embroidery thread, sewing thread and a sewing machine or very patient hand sewing skills.

Firstly, design your pattern on paper, I used squared paper to help with the straight angles for a robot, but use whatever works for you and your chosen design.  Then choose the colour of your base layer, I decided to make the robot out of grey and use 2 layers to make it really durable for a child's jumper.

After I had pinned the pattern piece to the felt, I cut it out and glued the two layers together with fabric glue to keep them from moving around.

I then made some buttons and other bits to make my robot a little more fun.  I glued these on and then made sure they would stay on, by sewing them on too.

I then cut two slots for the eyes and pushed my googly eyes through and attached the washers on the back.  I used these type of eyes instead of stick-on as I didn't want them to fall off!

I positioned my robot in the middle of the front of the jumper using pins and then began to zigzag stitch around all of the outside of the robot and over the middle panel to make sure it was all secure.  With hindsight I should have used Bondaweb to hold it in place on the jumper as it did end up moving about - even with using pins.

That's it.  Quite a simple customisation to do in a few hours of an afternoon and it makes a dull jumper look great.

Have you done anything like this recently, let us know in the comments or show us on Instagram or twitter by using #livelovemake.  We would love to see them.

H, xxx

Make it: Customise an Old Bag

Looking around at all the cross body Satchel style bags I saw this season, I was reminded of a shoulder bag I had once bought from M&S of all places! I thought it would be perfect for brightening up those January blues, but the shoulder strap just won't work for this look I was going for and so I went about re-working it for my needs, with the help of an old belt.

I took off the original shoulder strap and removed the buckle from the belt and simply knotted it around where I had removed the original strap.  It's now my favourite bag and worked out to be free!  What more could you ask for.

I hope it gives you a little inspiration to think again about some of the things you have in the back of your wardrobe that could be given a new lease of live with a simple up date.

Make it
H